A Broken Rose
by write-love-latte
Summary: Draco twirled the rose around in his long, pale fingers. See this here he said, This is what you call a broken rose. A bit of a DarkFic. Read
1. Chapter One

A Broken Rose

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, or ever will be. **

**Summary: Draco twirled the rose around in his long, pale fingers. "See this here?" he said, "This is what you call a broken rose." And one deep red petal plucked itself off its perch and floated to the ground.**

Draco knew _exactly_ when he had first began noticing her, the youngest Weasley. It had been in his third year, just when his hormones had begun to rage, and her looks had begun to develope. He remembered how he'd watched her dive into the lake one July afternoon right before the year ended, her slender body, too young for curves, outlined to him by her black bathing suit. She had always been tall and slender, and even now you could still see that through her mild curves and subtle breasts. He remembered how her dark hair had darkened even more reminding him of blood. And of course he remembered why she had been in the lake in the first place. Because of the Tom Riddle incident.

Even now, in his fifth year, it made his heart give a harsh pine of regret for what his father had done to her, this beautiful, innocent creature. Ever since that, Ginny Weasley would, every evening, through rain, slate and snow be by the lake. She would swim her worries away, or, if the water happened to be frozen, would just sit there and stare. He knew this because he always watched her. Had watched her since his second year, all through his third and fourth, and still going steady in his fifth.

'But now my father will never be able to hurt her again,' he thought gruffly, a mental image of his father laying in a pool of blood hazing his mind. He smirked. Lucious Malfoy was dead. And thank Merlin for it. He dipped his nose outside again, to watch her float on her back near the shore of the lake, her red hair splayed around her. How he would love to have her red hair splayed around him, her slender cinnamon dusted arms caressing him, and her bee stung lips embracing his own. How he would love that.

_And to have her staring down at him, blue eyes wild with lust and passion, and him staring up at her, his hands gripping her waist as she moved and moved, continually, in one steady rhythym. "Faster," he panted, feeling his peak so close he could touch it with his fingertips, but so far, it always moved away. She shook her head in a 'no', her hair brushing its cheeks, her breathing itself harsh, and her sweat dripping onto his chest. He bucked towards her, making her moan his name..._

Draco shook himself away from that thought. It would never happen. Ginny Weasley would never let him touch her. _Never_. No matter how much he pined for her, watched her from afar, oh, no matter how much he protected her, secretly, silently biding his time. He knew she didn't want him like he wanted her. He knew she didn't need him, or...or...anything...

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Ginny always knew when he was watching her, which was everyday. Not Tom. No, Tom had left her alone after...after...She brushed away tears. Tom had gotten what he wanted from her, and then he had left, thank god. But after Tom...Ginny had never been able to...to...forget...to live her life the way she had imagined before she ever knew Tom existed. No, Tom was not watching her. _He_ was. Ginny didn't know his name, or anything about him, she just knew he watched her, everyday, no matter what. She could feel his eyes on her form, feel his hunger for her.

At first she had been scared. Knowing he was there and that she couldn't see him, only feel his eyes and his lust, his love. She was afraid he was another Tom. But after years of his presence, she had grown used to him, and finally accepted him as some one she would never know, but, in a way, always appreciate. Knowing he was there was strangely comforting. Knowing that if something happened to her, he would protect her, no matter what.

Not like he had failed in past occurences. Yes, this was not the only time he was with her, when she was swimming. He was with her in her dreams, in the Great Hall, and even during classes. He was always with her. Her protecter. Her saviour. Her's. On days when she had nothing better to do than to sit beneath the great oak by the lake, she would pine to know who he was. Who was it who loved her so, who watched her everyday, who protected her from life and its terrors? _Who_?

In a way, she was happy in not knowing who he was. Mystery, longing...It gave her something to think about in her times of loneliness. But in a way she was not. She wouldn't _have_ those times of loneliness if she knew who he was. She could talk to him, and trust him, and love him and...and just be herself.

But for now Ginny was contented in just knowing he was there and he cared. She may not have known who he was, what he wanted, but she knew for sure that he loved her. She knew for sure that he needed her. And she knew for sure that she needed him.

**Author's Note: There is my glorious first chapter. Please review, I need some constructive critisism or some praise. I need something. Its gonna be a bit of a dark Fic, if you like that stuff. Draco-Gin mostly. Review.**


	2. Chapter Two

A Broken Rose

**Disclaimer: Once again...I own nothing 'cept what meager plot i have come up with for this story...**

Ginny closed her eyes as she sat at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for breakfast. She could feel him again, his eyes on her, studying her every feature. He was always closer to her in public places like this, as if he were a student. That was another thing Ginny was unsure about: whether or not he were student or spirit. She didn't know. He couldn't be a student, she had decided, since then he wouldn't be able to be with her in classes, because for sure she wouldn't have _all_ of her classes with him. But then again, he could be a student, just thinking about her rather intensely so she could feel it...all the time. She shivered, opening her eyes and looking around.

Her eyes strayed over to the Slytherin table, the blue orbs scanning for a familiar face, even though Ginny didn't know any one there. It was times like these she scared herself. She would look over to the Slytherin table, searching for a familiar face, even though Ginny barely even knew half of the Slytherins' names. There was one she knew. Draco Malfoy. She grimaced, remembering the dreadful stories her brother had told her about this particular Slytherin, who was said to be the nastiest of the nastiest. He was staring down at his uneaten breakfast, his chin supported in his cupped hand, and his silver blonde hair falling into his face. Maybe his personality was nasty, Ginny decided, but his appearance wasn't. He looked the epitome of an angel. Beautiful. He was beautiful.

And then he looked up at her, and Ginny was compelled to blush. After all she had been caught in the act, staring-goggling- over him. 'Oh god,' she thought, looking away. Slowly, feeling his eyes boring holes in her back-strangely familiar holes- Ginny got up, grabbing her knapsack and slinging it over one shoulder. She fled.

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Draco could have smiled. He had caught her staring at him. The look of concentration he had seen on her face would have been enough to melt him, if she had not moved away so fast. He would give anything to find out what she had been thinking as she looked at him. Lord, he would have given his life. For once, he would have even smiled her brother. He smirked, picking up a piece of toast in his plate and taking a huge bite out of it. He dropped the toast back into place, getting up and gathering his things. He headed to the library for some early morning studying before classes, secretly hoping in the back of his mind that he might see her along the way.

Truth was, Draco never did stop thinking about her. Whenever he could, he would look at her, make sure everything with her was fine. But he was always thinking of her in a way he had never thought of any other girl. She was the cloth that held the seams of his life together, she meant so much to him, even though he knew only a few things about her. It was so hard to explain what he felt about her. He barely knew her, but he needed her. He needed her to keep him from falling apart. From breaking down. Just seeing her, always so happy, so simple...even after everything she had been through...he was...drawn towards her for that.

Sighing, Draco settled himself down in a chair in the library, pulling out a book and propping it in front of him. No matter what he did, she was always there, brooding in the back of his mind. Over these years some part of her had, unknowingly to them both, migrated to the back of Draco's head, just like some part of him had migrated to her. That was why he was always thinking of her. Even when he was studying or focused on something, some part of his mind was still on her...was always on her.

Just when Draco was getting into the book, he heard a voice, directed at him. It was a voice he had listened to and memorized for the past two years. It was a voice that made his heart beat at twice its normal rate, and his palms go cold. It was her voice.

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"Are you really as nasty as they say you are?" Ginny produced quietly from behind the silver-blonde haired boy, undoubtedly Malfoy. She didn't know why she was doing this. She didn't know why she was talking to him, or even this close to him. He didn't know her, she didn't know him, and she wasn't even sure she wanted to know him. All she knew was that Ron had a way of exagerrating certain things. She just wanted to find out if Malfoy was one of them.

Or did she?

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Draco felt all the blood rush to his naturally pale face. Slowly he forced it down, before turning to her. He almost gasped at coming face to face with Miss Ginny Weasley, the girl he so treasured. He found his voice caught in his throat, he was unable to speak. He was..._nervous_. Her red hair was wild, half-wavey half-stick straight, falling around her pale face, which was lightly dusted with those precious cinnamon freckles.

_Draco so wanted to get up and lean in close to her, use his long fingers to count every freckle on her face, then in turn to kiss them, to tell her how much he loved her, and how much he loved her freckles, and how he had daydreamed of counting each freckle on her body, even is those extra private places, and one by one giving them butterfly kisses..._

'Get your mind out of the gutter,' he told himself mentally. "So...?" she still seemed intent on getting an answer from him. Draco watched as she approached him, taking a seat next to him, shifting the chair so that their knees wouldn't touch. She turned to face him. "So are you?" she asked again, looking at him intently.

"Uh..." Draco produced, "I'm...I never gave you permission to sit with me." 'Oh, _nice_,' a voice in his mind mocked him, '_Smooth_, real _smooth_, Draco. She'll be jumping into your arms any minute now.'

She rolled her eyes, her mouth twisting into a small smile at the same time. "I never asked for it," she retorted softly. 'Oh _god_,' his mind said, sensing his excitement before even he could process it, 'Is she _flirting_ with you?'

Draco managed a small growl at her, too caught up in watching the way her small pink tongue snaked out of her mouth, licking her pink lips...

_Draco nibbled those lips, gently, enjoying her taste, enjoying his taste on her lips. Lord she tasted like him...He opened his eyes, and smirked against her mouth as he watched her eyelashes flutter, and her brow crease slightly..._

"You don't talk much, do you?" she asked again, leaning forward. Draco's stomach flipped and he did a double take. She was getting too close. He moved away, getting up, and half-running half-walking out of the library. 'Oh god, oh god,' he kept repeating in his head. Had he just run from a girl? _That_ girl in particular. He let his heart beat settle. He wasn't afraid of her. He was afraid of what she did to him. She made him feel things he had never felt before, made him feel like the awkward teenage boy he was, but so desperately tried to hide. He took a deep breath and checked his watch.

"Shit," he muttered. He was late for Transfiguration. McGonagal was going to kill him. He passed the entrance of the library once more, looking in and seeing her looking out. At him. He walked a bit faster.

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What in the name of Merlin had that been? Not only had she flirted with Draco Malfoy, but he had run away from her! Was she _that_ unattractive? Ginny sighed and leaned back in her chair. Oh, but he was cute. With those grey, grey eyes, all the colors of a typical rainy London morning. Not only that but...Ginny had felt _completely_ comfortable with him. She had felt safe, she had felt loved...she had felt watched over. Watched over by him.

Ginny didn't know what had compelled her to do it. To flirt with him. Maybe it was the fact that she was drawn to him, not just the attraction she knew was there. She had just seen him there, quietly reading, looking so lonely. And she had just known what to do. She had just known that it was know or never, that every other time after this Ron would try to stop her...unless she just did it this once...her way would be cleared. For what she didn't know. That was the confusing part. Heck, everything was the confusing part. She had just had a freeking conversation with the Slytherin Prince! Not only that, but she'd managed to flirt with him! Shaking her head, Ginny got up. She didn't know what in the name of god she had just done, but she hoped that it was for the better.

**Author's Note: Wow guys! The response to the first chapter was _enormous_, by my terms. Usually I only get one or two reviews per chapter. I mean, that was _great_! Thanks so much I really appreciate you guys reviewing my story. For the people who have reviewed informing me that Ginny's eyes are brown, I'd just like to say that I know, but I like to twist things around, and if you read my bio, you'll see that I love blue eyes, so I just _had_ to give blue eyes to Ginny. And now that I know my readers aren't lazy...REEEVVVIIIEEEWWW!!**


	3. Chapter Three

A Broken Rose

"About time you started acknowledging your betters," Draco sneered vemously, as Ron scrambled at his feet, trying to pick up his fallen books. Ron's ears were turning red, whether with anger or embarrassment, it was impossible to tell. Draco kicked an already disheveled book away, just out of Ron's grasp, and laughed in the sadistic pleasure of it. Oh, how it was good to be cruel.

Finally, Ron managed to gather all of his books. Clutching them to his chest, he stood, his face set in a scowl. "Sod off, Ferret," he growled, trying to push past Draco, a futile effort as it was. Ron was tall. But not as tall as Draco. "I'm going to be late for class."

"And I care beacuse...?" Draco said, shoving Ron back, and laughing. Ron's face reddened, if that was possible, and he charged Draco, not causing much more damage that a mouse could to a cat. Draco laughed again. "Weasel getting angry?"

"Malfoy, if you don't get the _fuck_ out of my way, _now_, I'll personally _show_ you what it is to be _angry_," Ron snarled. Draco was about to retort, when he saw her. Standing behind her brother, some way off, watching them. Watching _him_. His face paled to a shade even whiter than it naturally was. 'Oh _god_, no,' he thought, stepping back at the sensation of her eyes on him, scanning his body, 'Not _now_.' He looked frantically back to where Ron had been, but the boy had seemed to have taken Draco's brief distraction as an opening to get away and into his Double Potions class. 'Crap,' Draco thought, seeing her move towards him with catlike grace. Ginny Weasley. Again.

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Ginny felt a slight smile twitch at her lips. There she had been, innocently roaming her way through the dungeons, and by sheer luck, had managed to run into Mr. Draco Malfoy tormenting her brother. Not that she minded. To her, it was revenge for all the times Ron had sat on her (yes, _sat_ on her) and called her vile names. But now, Ron gone, she was alone, in a dark, deserted corridor that wouldn't be used within the next hour or so, with Draco Malfoy.

The side of him she had seen earlier today had grown up on her. She liked it. She wanted more of it. She giggled slightly. She also still wanted an answer to her question.

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Draco didn't have the heart to move. She looked so innocent, and he found his heart beating to the fast-pased rhythym of her giggles. They emanated from her mouth, her cherry-pink lips parted in some unseen to him amusement. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights for the second time in a day.

And yet he liked the sensation of being the deer in the headlights. He loved that, for once, he didn't have to be the agressive one, the one who put out to get what he wanted. After all, he wanted this. Yes, he wanted it bad. And somehow, he had a feeling that he was the only one who had ever seen this side of her. The side of her that was..._naughty_. Draco felt goosebumps rise on his skin, as she reached him, her hand lightly brushing his forearm. "W-what do you want?" Shit. He hadn't meant to stutter.

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His deep voice washed over Ginny liked a cool wave. And he had stuttered. He was nervous. _Why_ was he nervous? Was he afraid of her? But then she was nervous, too. In the pit of her stomach she was nervous. She could just control the way it came out in her better. She smiled. "An answer to my question," was all she answered, "Are you as nasty as they say you are?"

She watched him think, unconsiously leaning in closer to him, if only to see the way his brow furrowed and how he bit his bottom lip slightly. She felt one of his hands brush against hers and shivered. Why was she doing this again? Every time his chest rose and fell, Ginny felt her rise and fall with it, every time he opened his mouth on the verge of saying something, Ginny felt her tongue click in her mouth. "I don't know," he finally breathed out, and Ginny, even though she was a good six inches shorter than him, smelt his minty pine-fresh breathe.

The two of them stood there for a while. Draco looking down at Ginny, Ginny looking up at Draco. It was an awkward moment the two of them shared, but one neither would ever forget. "Do you think I am?" Draco finally broke the silence.

"Um..." that was an out-of-the-blue question. "I-ah...Depends. What I saw you just do to my brother wasn't very nice." It was the best answer Ginny could come up with, and, even though she had determined she didn't mind Draco picking on Ron, she found a flare of anger ignite in her stomach at the thought of it.

"Well..." Draco said, stepping away from her so that he didn't have to fight the urge to just lean in and..."I'm-uh- not a very nice person, if you haven't noticed."

Ginny saw him swallow, or maybe it was more of a gulp. His adam's apple bobbed down, then back up again. She reached a tentative finger out to touch it, but quickly caught herself.

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Draco felt his hand twitch. He wanted to reach out and take her hand in his. All his senses that had watched her over the years screamed for him to, but he couldn't. It was against his nature. Against the way Lucious had brought him up. Lucious. Fuck Lucious. Draco raised his hand, and let his fingers sweep against hers. It was a brief touch, but it sent shivers of almost-pleasure reeling throughout his body. His knees went a bit weak. He couldn't believe he was doing this, he was so close to her he could smell her. Strawberries. And vanilla. It was irresistable as she was.

_The nights Draco would spend thinking of her lips would never, by far, oneday outrun the nights he spent kissing her lips, and lying awake watching her lips gently parted in sleep..._

And Draco watched her lips now, watched as they edged ever closer to his, felt as her hands slipped around his shoulders...

**Author's Note: There, took a while to update, that's because I've been trying to keep my over 80 percent in each subject at school. Sucessful. Please review. 'Nother chappy'll be up tomorrow or next Saturday...**


	4. Chapter Four

A Broken Rose

Just as her lips were about to touch his, so close that he could feel a shadow of them hovering over his mouth...the door creaked and the first signs of life other than them in the hallway emanated. Slowly a rather dishevled Gryffindor girl stumbled out of the Double Potions classroom, and to Draco's dismay and relief, he could no longer feel Ginny's hovering presence. In fact, she was as good as gone, making her way swiftly and steathily away from him, eager not to be seen. He stared after her, shocked to his core, and more than expecting to wake up in his bed in the middle of the night. His expectations were brought to no avail. "Still here Malfoy?" he heard a snarl. It was Ron Weasley.

"No Weasley," Draco drawled, smoothly catching himself, "I'm in your sister's pants." And before Ron could charge at him, Draco was gone, too. Speeding down the hall in the opposite direction that Ginny had just taken.

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Ginny's resolve was in tatters. All she had meant was a bit of flirting in the beginning, and an answer to her question. Maybe even not that much. Possibly just a vulgar conversation, or to just sit and stare at him and his pretty eyes for a while. She hadn't meant to...to...kiss him! If that could be considered a kiss. She didn't know what a kiss was, and what wasn't. She had never kissed any one before. She didn't want to kiss any one. Right...?

'But you want to kiss him, don't you?' a voice said in her head, like a candle she couldn't blow out, 'You want to go back there and press your lips against his, rake your hands through his silky blonde hair and-' Ginny stopped herself. Where was this going? This was confusing. What was she doing? This was painful. Malfoy didn't like her. He probably just wanted a little snog, then he'd rid of her. He was probably just like his father. His father who had put Tom's diary in her cauldron all those years ago. In fact, he was probably just like Tom. Ginny shuddered, almost instinctively searching for that reassuring presence that she always had with her. Searching for her guardian angel.

Sure enough he was there. He was there more than ever. It was as if who ever and what ever he was, was focusing on her completely and totally. His mind unwavering. His love unconditional. Ginny leaned against a wall, reveling in it, basking in it. Oh, now _he_ loved her, who ever he was. He cared. He'd never betray her. _Never_.

But Ginny's mind couldn't help but prance back happily to Malfoy. Those beautiful, _beautiful_ eyes, the fair, unblemished skin and silver blonde hair. He was more beautiful than she was...'But then I don't consider myself very beautiful...' Oh, she just had to counter with that. Oh well. Weasley auto-reaction.

Was that really all Malfoy wanted, though? A good snog? He had seemed so...genuinely...nervous. He had seemed, for once, out of control, and some how loving it. He had seemed so un-Malfoy-like, compared to what she had seen him doing to Ron merely minutes before. But had it been minutes, even? It could have been _much_ longer, they could have stood there staring at each other for hours for all she knew. And then it could have been _much_ shorter, maybe seconds?

Ginny sighed. She never jumped into things like that. She never jumped onto boys like that. In fact, she had _never_ jumped onto _any_ boy _ever_. The only one she had ever jumped at had been...Tom...and...well...Ginny took a deep breath, closing her eyes. On the back of her eyelids, the back of her mind, she pictured Tom. His dark eyes, dark hair and pale, pale skin. He'd reminded her of Harry. That's why she'd trusted him so quickly, so thoroughly. And eventually she'd come to love him. To love him with everything she had. Ginny clutched at her beating heart through her shirt, sliding down the wall so that she was in a sitting position with her back against the cold grey stone. 'Tom...Tom...' the tears slid down her cheeks, but she brushed them away abruptly as another figure entered her mind. Malfoy.

Tom was in her mind. But so was Malfoy. And somehow he made her not want to cry any more. Not want to go back to what Tom had done to her. All the monstrosities. Everything down to the last thing he'd been _able_ to do after the chamber incident. Haunt her. In her dreams. But Malfoy was there now, and everything was alright. In her heart she knew it was. And suddenly a thought occured to her. '_Could Malfoy be..._' It was out of her mind before she could complete it. Never. Bitter, Ferrety Malfoy, with his pompous dastardly ways, and his pretty eyes, not to mention the fact that he was devishly handsome...No he could not be her guardian angel.

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Draco was sitting in the library. It was, coincidently, the same seat he had been sitting in that morning when the little Weasley had approached him. The library was empty, except for Madame Pince, whom Draco could hear shuffling around in the background. His head was on the table, his hands supporting his forehead and squeezing his temples at the same time. His eyes were shut tight, everything he had in him concentrating on the Weasley, telling her, screaming at her, that he loved her, that he wanted her, that he needed her. That he cared.

Everything he was, everything he wanted revolved around her. The last few hours he had spent in the library pondering over her and her thoughts and her actions was enough to say that. Enough to scream that and send an owl telling every person in Hogwarts that. But still it was not enough for her to know. No, it wasn't. Nothing he did was enough for her to know what he felt. Nothing he was in line to do could show her this huge boiling coil of feelings in his stomach. Nothing. Draco took a deep breath, breathing in gratefully the crisp, white scent of cooks shut tight, and the dusty, moldy smell of the old tomes in the Restricted section.

The library always comforted him. It always gave him a place where he could think. But what he was thinking about now...well..._was Ginny's Weasley's pink, plush lips against his, his hot tongue roaming the velvety warm recesses of her mouth in a passionate fervor_...well...yeah, along the lines of that. What had she been thinking any way? Coming up to him, flirting with him, then almost kissing him. He bet she didn't even know how to kiss. According to his memory she'd never had a boyfriend. Never made a move to get one. Therefore that had almost been her first kiss. Draco's skin flushed slightly with the thought of being the first person to experience the warmth of her mouth against his. God, he was blushing alot.

And, lord did he want to kiss her. He wanted to, needed to...Draco took a deep, long breath, thinking of all the things he could do to her with his mouth and hers alone, all the things that would make her gasp, and moan and dig her nails into his shoulders. Draco had only kissed some one once before. On his thirtheenth birthday Pansy and her family had made a suprise appearance at the Manor. Unfortunately, the two were left alone, while the adult went to another of the many rooms in the house to discuss 'adult' things. But wait, did that even count as a kiss? Considering he didn't intiate, nor wanted any part in it, he was unsure. The fact that Pansy had grabbed him roughly by the shoulders and slammed her pudgy lips on his wasn't a very pleasant one, but it had been reality.

Now that Draco thought about it, he didn't know how he hadn't gagged in her mouth for that. The taste of her spit mingled with his and her slimy tongue all over his...well, it wasn't a very appetizing thought. But he had lived through it. And when she was done, she had walked away triumphantly, leaving Draco with only one thought: Yuuuuckkk. He remembered how had he had had to brush his teeth afterwards, and of the nightmares he had endured until weeks later.

Shuddering, he turned his thoughts back towards something much more...edible...

**Author's Note: Thanx for the enormous response, guys, I lurv it. Keep reviewing, you're making me happy and faster at posting chappies...SEE! I said it would be Saturday, but, lookie lookie, two days early...smirkz...thank you guys again...Next chappy'll be up hopfully soon...**

**PS: Trying to make the chapters longer, to no avail...its just so much fun making them short so I leave you guys in suspense...something big happens next chapter...I _think_.**


	5. Chapter Five

A Broken Rose

_"Ginevra..." the voice called, "Ginevra..." It was a male voice, undoubtedly, and Ginny smiled to herself, thinking that it might be to finish what he'd to kiss her...How wrong she had been. "Ginevra? Don't you love me any more?" And then a force gripped her throat, choking her, choking the life out of her. "You've betrayed me..." the voice was no longer beckoning...if any thing it was malevolent, "You've fallen in love with some one else!" And now Ginny could hear skin slapping on skin, in a rhythymic motion...And she opened her eyes, to see Tom. Tom, pumping into her, hard, his eyes cold and amused as tears fell from her eyes. 'Stop,' she mouthed, unable to find her voice, but it only made him laugh in sadistic pleasure...like Malfoy had laughed at Ron, except this was so much more evil. 'Stop!' she screamed silently again. But he wouldn't. She looked at him, his palms cupping her breasts and stared in horror as she remembered the first time he had done this to her...'Nooo...!'_

Ginny woke abruptly, sweat covering her brow, tears still falling from her eyes. It was dark in her dormitory, the other girls snoring silently. She cried, covering her face with her shaking hands in an attempt to stifle the sobs of anguish. Tom was back...But why? Why had he come to plague her again? Hadn't Harry sent him away for good? Ginny felt the unbearable rush of coldness, of darkness flow through her veins. She cried some more, watching as each tear splashed onto her crimson sheets. She hugged herself with her hands in an attempt to stop the insecurity, the feeling that she had just been violated. But she had. And it had hurt.

"Leave me alone," Ginny whispered to the dark, "Please leave me alone."

_Why_ in the name of Merlin was he back though? Things had just begun to go her way, and bam, out of no where, Tom pushes himself back into the scene. She had just begun to feel securely about her grades, about the fact that no matter what she did Potions would always be her favorite subject, Transfiguration her least. She had just begun to discover that Malfoy made her feel good...Malfoy..._'You've fallen in love with some one else!'_...The words rolled around like hot coals in her head. Could she have fallen in love with Malfoy within the period of a day?

'It couldn't be, though,' she reasoned bitterly, 'Love takes a long time, months, years even.' And yet she felt so strongly about Malfoy. But, then, it could just be a crush. But _could_ this be a crush? Ginny was confused-depressed. She wanted to hurt herself, to hurt some one or something. She _had_ to do something...'Maybe...maybe I should stop...' the though sent another wave of depression tumbling over her and seeping into her head...'Maybe I should stop seeing Malfoy...' She took a deep shuddering breath. She didn't know what else to do. She just had to avoid him from now on, no matter how much she enjoyed his company and his bland timidness around her. No matter how much he made her stomach flip and her cheeks flush with comfort and a sense of security she had never experienced before. No matter how much he made her want to just hug him close and pour all her troubles out to him...No matter-- Ginny stopped right there, realizing these thoughts would only make it harder for her to separate the day old bond she had erected with her family's arch enemy.

She sighed. There was no way she could go to stop from hurting herself. No way. Silently, she searched for her guardian angel, sighing when she found him there. He could stay. He couldn't be the problem, after all, since he had been with her for too long to be any sort of problem. He was a part of her. There was a possibility he didn't exist. That he was a figment of her imagination that she had created to help her sap up her pains. That was a possibility she had considered, and accepted as just that: a possibility. She wasn't sure. She didn't care. She loved her guardian angel. And he loved her, too.

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Draco felt it in the middle of the night when she called out to him. It was more something she did in her mind than anything else. Something she called when she felt alone or depressed. But she had never seemed so desperate before. And she had never needed his support so late at night. He concentrated on her with all his might, giving into the tingling that was her in the back of his mind. He wondered what was wrong.

'Ginny, Ginny...' he thought over to her, knowing she couldn't hear him, but that she could feel it. After all, she had to be able to feel it when he concentrated on her like this, else she wouldn't be calling on him. That happened to some witches and wizards. Draco had read it in a book he had sneaked out of the Restricted Section. A book called _'Magical Mysteries of the Mind'_ by one Myrdle Myrad. When one witch or wizard could focuse his or her mind on another being completely and totally, there often formed a connection where, over time, both wizards could feel each other through their minds. It was rather rare that one person could devote his mind to another so accurately, but Draco had developed it over his years of observation and clear admiration. He hadn't even needed to try.

And yet, tonight, in the darkness of his dorm room, he could feel her confusement, so great it was. He could feel something of the depression that was in her mind. And he could _almost_ feel her pain. Something was dreadfully wrong tonight, and Draco, to his extreme dismay had absolutely no way of finding out what. He could have cried, but wouldn't allow himself. He'd keep her company like this until she fell asleep.

And so he leant back, ready to stay awake for whatever amount of time was necessary.

----------

Ginny dragged herself out of bed that morning, thoroughly afraid. She had never felt such a lack of self-confidence, even in the early days after the Chamber incident. At least then she had known she had had some control over her life back again. Now...she had nothing. Absolutely nothing.

'Except for your guardian angel...' she reminded herself, finding him in her mind and flashing him a thought of gratitude. And then it quickly disapeared, as if soaked up by some othermindly being, as Ginny remembered what she'd have to try and do today. Avoid Malfoy. Avoiding him would be the most difficult thing she'd ever have to force herself to do, that'd be for sure. She didn't want to have to avoid him. If anything, she wanted to corner him in a dark corner and take off from where they'd left off yesterday evening. But then Tom would come back and punish her. Or, even worst, he might go and punish Malfoy. She didn't want that. She _never_ wanted to see Malfoy in pain.

But then, even as she thought about avoiding him, he passed her in the halls walking towards the Great Hall. He was wearing his school robes, of course, his tie not fixed properly, his top button undone. His robe hung open and his hair was a mess. Altogether he looked like he hadn't gotten _any_ sleep last night, therefore had tried to gain an extra fifteen minutes this morning, and as a result had had to cut short his dressing time. She felt a small, weak smile tug at her lips, but it was, nevertheless a smile. She tugged back, pulling her lips into a tight line. 'Show no emotion...' she thought, but it was easily overrun by the familiar scent of his cologne and the quick acknowledging glance he flashed her. Her knees went weak as she remembered being surrounded by that wonderful smell, the smell of him, and having those eyes watching her face with apt intentness.

'This _is_ going to be harder than I thought,' she mused bitterly to herself, before walking into the Great Hall, currently packed with lively children.

----------

"Did you hear about it, Drakky Wakky?" Pansy asked excitedly. Draco rolled his eyes, but signaled for her to go on. "There's going to be a Hallowe'en Dance in a few weeks...!" Pansy seemed very excited about this, seemingly on the verge of bursting a vein.

Draco on the other hand was unimpressed, or maybe it was because he was too absorbed in thinking over the littlest Weasley's appearance. She looked tired this morning, bags under her eyes, her hair in knots unlike her usual smoothly wild look. He groaned slightly. She was unhappy, and he knew it. He just hoped it had nothing to do with yesterday evening. 'God help her,' he thought, ''Cuz she's beyond me right now.' And she was. And he was worried.

"So who ya taking?" Pansy continued, unphazed by Draco's lack of _care_. Pansy's pudgy hand flew confidently to Draco's knee, but he shook it off and crossed his leg over the other, away from her grasp.

"Not you," he drawled, biting into a piece of toast, then quickly fleeing the scene. He went to his only haven in the whole castle. The library.

**Author's Note: Alas, finished. I'll now have _less_ time to update due to a newly added math tutoring session (for one hour) on Tuesdays, that having kicked my guitar lessons from that spot and onto vacated Thursday. Well, I've gotta take the math tutoring cuz, though my math grades are still 80 percent and over, no way am I going to risk failing math. Newayz...Review and tell me what you think. :-)**

**PS: New chappy'll be up by Sunday latest, if not I give you all right to flame me or whatever...**


	6. Chapter Six

A Broken Rose

Draco once again settled down in what had now become his favorite spot in the whole library. The spot where he had had his first conversation with Miss Ginny Weasley. He shivered ever so slightly, thinking about when he had brushed his finger tips against her hand, thinking about the shocks that had sent shooting through his body. He remembered how close she had been, he remembered the feeling of her lips just above his own...

And now he found himself wondering whether or not she would go to the dance with him, if he asked her. After all, no one had to know it was the two of them. They could be in costumes...Draco smiled thinly, remembering his childhood. He had never dressed up for Hallowe'en. His father had always thought it inferior of him to do so. Draco sneered at the air, feeling like the books, for once, were not looking down at him with warm eyes, but cold ones as they registered in their pages who his father was. Thinking back, Draco realized that his father was the only reason that he had not enjoyed his childhood. His father was the only reason Draco hadn't enjoyed alot of things. His first kiss for one.

Draco knew that Pansy kissing him had been planned. He had seen the look of almost-nervousness in his father's eyes as he had left the room, he had seen the fidgeting of Pansy's parents. He had heard their controlled whispering in the room over as Pansy's lips had crushed his. Because of his father, he hadn't enjoyed the wonder of a true kiss. A kiss out of affection. Not out of the fact that your parents had told you to, with the threat of a beating if you didn't. He could understand Pansy's triumph, and if he hadn't kissed her, he would have understood her horror as well. Draco would bet all the money in his vault at Gringotts that that night Pansy had been paid well. Very well.

Draco sighed and felt the unquenchable urge to spit. Spit right there in the library. He remembered the bitter, salty taste of Pansy slimy tongue sliding against his, he remembered it all, and felt his breakfast churn uncomfortable in his stomach. He wouldn't think of _that_ now, he decided, not now.

Draco returned to Ginny. He closed his eyes, laying is forehead against the rim of the table, and thinking about her, and her alone. God, she was beautiful. She was everything he'd ever wanted. She was everything to him. She was his life. But this morning...He remembered the bags beneath her ice blue eyes, the way her lips were pale and chapped. Her hair had been messy, knotted and untamed, as if she had done nothing to make herself even in the slightest presentable this morning. He shuddered, remembering the look of hidden fear he had detected in her eyes, those eyes that were usually dancing with life and vibrance, with an undeniable need to live.

But what had scared that look out of her eyes this morning? He made a mental connection, watching as it formed in his head. Something had happened last night. He remembered how last night he had stayed awake, because she was a awake too. Awake and afraid. He remembered the mental waves of support he had sent to her, trying with all his might to take her pain and depression away from her, to instead bestow it upon himself, if the need arose. Oh lord, he would do anything just to see her wake up every morning with a smile on her face...He would do anything to have her wake up next to him with a smile on her face...

Draco trying to controll his thoughts again. It was times like these he wondered whether his love for her was more lust than anything. He had never experienced lust before, but he thought he knew what it was. It was a purely physical, sexual attraction to some one. Yet, whenever he doubted his love for her, he would continuously remind himself of all the hours he spent thinking of her-- not her body. She was attractive-beautiful, is you may- but she was also smart, confident...she had so many desirable qualities. Qualities that Draco, too, prided himself in.

Sighing, Draco got up, oblivious to a slight stirring behind him. He gathered his things and headed off to his first class of the day, fifteen minutes early.

----------

Ginny sat behind a bookshelf, watching through a gap in the neat line of books as Draco got up and left. Tears poured down her cheeks, but she didn't know why. She didn't know why the aspect of having to avoid him hurt her so much--and she didn't know why, this first morning, it was so hard to do.

She had watched as he headed out of the Great Hall, apparently something the Parkinson girl had said had set him off the mood for breakfast, and, on a wild impulse, she had followed him. She had crept silently behind him, watching his erect, straight back, so disciplined and perfect, his broad shoulders...and she had been so tempted to creep up right behind him and hug him, kissing that spot right behind his neck--the spot she _knew_ would drive him crazy.

More tears escaped their ice blue prisons, and Ginny found a few silent sobs escaping her mouth. She thought of never being able to feel his arms around her, warm and protective...she thought of never being able to feel his lips on hers, and to feel his silky hair between her fingers...She took a deep, yet pathetically shuddery breath. And then she thought of Tom, and his cold, cruel eyes, his pale skin and dark hair, always askew. She thought of his distinctly handsome features, but of the horrible stoney heart that lay behind the charming outlook...and she found herself wondering, not for the first time, wondering if Draco was like that, too.

And she wondered that if, that time earlier in the hallway, she had broken her promise to avoid him, and had hugged him from behind, if he would have pushed her away and spat some kind of insult at her. More tears poured down her cheeks, knocked their ancestors to her lap. She wondered so many things. And, deep down, she knew that if she avoided him, most of her questions, would never be answered.

"Oh, _what_ have I done?" she pondered miserably aloud, "Why have I started this game? What has it earned me but a...but a...broken heart??" It was a serious term, 'broken heart,' but some how Ginny knew it was right for this situation. She _knew_. Draco Malfoy, within the course of a day and a night, had broken her heart. Or had Tom broken it for him?

"I hate you Tom," Ginny said very suddenly. It was the first time she had ever said it aloud, though, ever since he had betrayed her, she had known it and felt it in her heart. More tears piled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. She just wanted to live her life-- she wanted to live her life with Draco. She didn't care to question whether or not he returned her feelings. _She didn't care_. And if he didn't...well...atleast she'd have found out for sure. She didn't want to live wondering and pondering over this. She wanted to act, to be rid of the past and to live the now--the present. Most of all, though she wanted to be rid of Tom. To escape his cold acts towards her, to escape everything about him. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you," she said, louder each time, "Leave me alone, to live my life. Haven't you ruined it enough?"

Sourly, Ginny clutched her head, pulling at her hair. '_No_,' came her amused and abruptanswer.

Very suddenly, she began to feel faint, dizzy. The world began to spin, and the only thing she could make out clearly was a dark figure...Tom...Ginny felt as her head hit the ground, and the last thing she saw before her world dissolved into darkness, was Tom's evil face looming over her, a wicked, sour smile on her face...

**Author's Note: Hope you guys liked. I know I did. ::WinkWink:: Gets rather interesting next chapter. Maybe some good old underage smut, or maybe in the chapter after that. Tell me what you think about the idea of smut in this story, 'cuz I'm unsure about it. Smut ain't my fave thing to write, but I _do_ write it. So, I you think the story needs some smut, I have the perfect place to fit it in, if you don't, I have another scenario that you guys might like, too. So, review. Thanx....**


	7. Chapter Seven

A Broken Rose

Draco was just entering his first class of the day when he felt it. A sharp pain across his heart, the impression that a candle had just been snuffed out in his mind. Then the dizziness came, and he didn't even have mind enough to snap bitterly at a first year who had just brushed rudely past him. He groped around for something to hold onto, but then he remembered he was in the middle of a hall, and that the only things close enough to hold onto were people-students. He looked around desperately, not wanting to collaspe, as he knew he was going to, in the middle of a hall.

The only place seemingly close enough-and discreet enough- for him to run to was the library, so, trying to ignore the dizziness, he stumbled past and into people, making his unsteady way to the library. He had just reached the entrance to the library, when he teetered dangerously on the edge of falling on his face. Instead, he fell to his knees, alerting the immiediate attention of Madame Pince, who, though she was not known for her running skills, flew to his aide. "Mr. Malfoy?" she asked urgently, "Mr Malfoy? Mr Malfoy can you hear me?"

But Draco couldn't. His ears felt like they had been stuffed with cotton, and he was seeing double. Nonetheless, he managed to murmur out a would, before his world went cold..."Ginny..."

----------

Ginny woke in the Hospital Wing, every part of her body feeling like lead. She blinked her eyes open to see Ron looming over her, a concerned look on his face. She could make out Harry and Hermione in the background, but only just. "Ow," she said, as her head began to throb in a steady rhythm.

"Oh, Gin!" Ron said, a hint of relief evident in his heavy voice, "You had me so worried..." 'And _blah, blah, blah_,' she thought, clutching at her head feebly, with arms that were clumsy.

"How did I get here?" she muttered, cutting Ron off in the middle of some lecture he was about to start on. She didn't remember anything but blackness. Pure, sheer blackness.

At this question Ron's eyes narrowed uncertainly. "Its a long story, actually. I won't plague your tired mind with it-"

"_Tell me_," Ginny's voice was harsh and cold, more so than it had ever been. She felt like crying, for, not only were her limbs stiff as stones, but she could _not_, under any circumstances, feel her guardian angel's reassuring presence. Where was he?

Ron was surprised by Ginny's relentlessness, and he chewed on the inside of his lip unsurely. "They say McGonagal found you, after a report from Pince that-well- uh, Malfoy had uttered your name before, also, becoming unconsious. I'm sure, of course, there had to be a mis-"

"Malfoy?" Ginny's voice became worried, "What about Malfoy?" Her heart began to beat ten times its normal pace, hitting her rib cage alost painfully. And, as if her heart had triggered some button in her mind, she remembered...

_"Stop! Please **stop**," she had screamed, but Tom hadn't listened. He was holding a whip, a cruel smirk on his face. With a cold roar, he hit her with it, the leather slapping her skin and leaving a red mark. She cried out at the contact, but he didn't stop there. He continued his horrible assualt, hitting with his whip any piece of exposed skin he could find, discluding her face._

_"Canniving **bitch**," he spat, "How **dare** you defy me? Mhm? I thought you understood, first, I thought you understood that I didn't want you around that Malfoy bastard, that I didn't want you to think about him, and-and-" Another sharp whiplash was delivered to her skin, and Ginny screamed in pain as blood began to trickle out like crimson tears. **"Loving** him. How could you love him when all he has done for you is hate you, and insult your family? He doesn't love you, bitch. He doesn't want you, or need you. He just wanted a good snog-- one you couldn't even give him! See how worthless you are? You're lucky to have some one like me look after you!"_

_And Ginny had continued to cry, and to listen to his cold insults, each one leaving a mark on her heart, just as the whip was leaving marks on her body. Tom seemed to continue on the assualt forever, but finally, he stopped, smiling with hate in every inch of his eyes. Ginny, by now, was a bloody, beaten pulp. "Now, love," he had said tenderly, "You'll know not to defy me again, right?" He expected an answer, but Ginny refused to give it to him. She let her mind wander to Malfoy, and the way he had almost kissed her, his scent, and his broad shoulders...and that spot right behind his neck..._

_...And then it had stopped..._

Ginny opened her eyes, not realizing she had ever closed them. The Hospital Wing was dark now, and Harry, Ron and Hermione weren't there any more. She could see a shadow of Madame Pomfrey moving in her office, but all else was vague. She sat up stiffly, looking at her hands and shoulders, and crying out when she saw the red bruises that graced them. So it _was_ real. Tom had come to her, and hurt her.

But what had he done to Malfoy?

Ginny remembered what Ron had told her earlier. That technically made Malfoy the one who had saved her. But where was he now? And why had he blacked out? Ginny shivered, but felt no comforting force come back to her. So he was gone, then, her guardian angel. Tom had killed him.

_But what had he done to Malfoy?_

The question seemed to haunt her. _Malfoy._ So, did that mean, the fact that he had saved her, that he loved her back? Did it? Ginny lay her head back on the bed head tiredly, her eyes whelling up with tears as she observed the darkness. There was nothing for her any more. Even Ron hadn't stayed. No one loved her. Maybe Tom was right...

But then she heard it. A moan coming from one of the neighbouring beds to her right. She strained her eyes to make out what had issued the noise, and to her surprise she saw a slumped figure trying to get its bedside lamp on. She squinted a bit more, but still any actual features evaded her. "Who's there?" she called, timidly.

The figure paused, and Ginny felt a bead of sweat trickle down her forehead. "Ginny?" it called hoarsely.

Ginny recognized the voice at once. There was no mistaking it. "Draco," she answered, feeling a smile tug at her lips, however forelorn she may have been feeling at that moment. "Oh my god, Draco," to her surprise her voice broke and she erupted into tears that racked her whole body.

"Gin," Draco said again, his voice worried, "I'm coming over there." And he did come. He came, and as soon as he reached, he pulled her into a tight hug, and Ginny pulled him down into the bed next to her. Oh, it didn't matter any more! she thought as she felt more tears gather in her eyes, it didn't matter that she knew Tom would kill her next time. It just didn't.

"I love you," Ginny sobbed into his shoulder, "I don't know when, or how, but, Draco, I love you."

And she felt his arms hold her ever so tighter, and he whispered into her ear, "I love you, too."

And Ginny didn't care, in that moment, that she couldn't find her guardian angel. In fact, she thought she had found him. And, right then, she was in his arms.

**Author's Note: Yey!! Got that off my chest. Wait till you people see what I have planned in the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to update, but I've been having problems with the assholes of teachers in my school. ::Rollz eyez:: Doesn't matter. Review, pretty please with a cherry on top.**

**PS: I'm going to try to warn you now...This story _may_ have a dark ending...**


	8. Chapter Eight

A Broken Rose

It was a while before either person had the heart to let go of the other, and, when they did, it was only due to Madame Pomfrey's footsteps on the other side of the Wing. They had lain there on the hospital bed, neither daring to move, neither _wanting_ to move. Draco's head had lain comfortably on a pillow propped against the headboard, Ginny ontop of him, her head lolling off the side of his chest, and his arms around her. His scent engulfed her, a waves of a sharp, minty smell, blunted minutely by a cologne that seemed to cling to his skin. And her, scent engulfed him. Freshly picked strawberries with a tint of vanilla chocolate hung around her like an aura or a second person, and Draco inhaled it greatfully.

"Ginny?" Draco had asked gently, his voice carressing.

"Mhm?" she'd replied softly, not wanting to break this peacefulness.

"What did he do to you?"

The question was abrupt, and personal, but Ginny knew Draco had every right to know. "He hurt me," she choked, and ended up telling him the story, along with every little detail. By the end, he was holding her tighter than he had ever thought himself capable of.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, kissing her forehead, and Ginny thought she felt one of his tears against her cheek, but she dared not look. Instead she snuggled back into his chest, trying to get even closer to him that she already was. "Tomorrow night, Ginny," Draco said suddenly, "I want to show you something. But we'll have to go to the Astronomy Tower."

"Ok," she said, her eyelids heavy. She'd go anywhere with him, at this point.

And at about the same time, they heard Madame Pomfrey's light, feminine footsteps step out of her office and onto the plastered concrete of the infirmary, and Draco, though reluctantly, flew off of Ginny's bed and into his own with all the agility he had obtained from years of being a Seeker for Slytherin.

----------

_'I warned you...'_

The words spun in her head, the result of some bizzarre dream she had had last night. But that didn't matter now, she decided as she silently slipped into her jeans, listening as Draco slipped into his. Madame Pomfrey had forbid them to leave the infirmary, so Draco had proposed they sneak out. Ginny was all for it, feeling her Hermione-like resistance melt as she looked into his serene grey eyes, the ones she'd so daydreamed about.

She stood, propping pillows up in her bed to make it look like a sleeping figure, when he wrapped his arms around her waist, a possessive gesture. She leaned back into him, feeling him tense and relax in turn as his body supported her weight. "Ready?" he whispered into her ear, making the fine hairs rise up on her neck. She nodded, and closed her eyes as he lay a butterfly kiss on her neck.

Together, they both snuck stealthily out of the infirmary, their footsteps making meagre _thuds_ on the stone floor as they made their quiet way up to the Astronomy Tower. By the time they reached it, it was around eleven and the night was on full throttle. Draco took her small hand in his, and led her to the window, pushing her gently in front of him, them wrapping his arms around her from the back. Together they watched the stars, imprinted on the velvetine sky like twinkling diamonds upon a silken platform. The moons shone, highlighting the two's eyes, bright and filled with a passion for the life and love they were living. "I love you," Draco said, his arms tightening around her in a hug. It seemed that he couldn't stop saying those three words to her, but Ginny knew she'd never get fed-up of them.

"I love you, too," Ginny sighed, loving every moment she spent with Draco almost as much as she loved him. After all, it was love, wasn't it? This feeling pouring out from every miniscule pore in her body, spilling out from her soul in a fervor previously unknown to her. It had to be. There was no other explaination for it.

"Are you ready to see what I came to show you?" Draco asked gently.

Puzzled, Ginny nodded, allowing herself to be led away from the window and the beautiful view. Draco sat down on the floor, beckoning for Ginny to do the same. Fixing herself in a comfortable position across from him, Ginny waited, watching him with intent eyes. She memorized his face with all her might, observing the masculine curve of his jaw and the Malfoy-like point of his chin.

Then, she watched as he pulled something from his pocket with care. At first she couldn't make out what it was. Something slightly flat- red...no, not red...more than red, a bloody crimson...He held it in front of her, his fingers gripping a long green part...a...stem? The rose, she saw, opened out eventually, its petals spreading so that it now looked full, beautiful as all roses are. But this one...there was something more about it. Something sad, yet extremely, extraordinarily, beautiful. She sucked in a breath in awe.

Draco twirled the rose around in his long, pale fingers, as if teasing her with it. "See this here?" he said, "This is what you call a broken rose." And one deep red petal plucked itself off its perch and floated to the ground. Ginny watched it, horrified for some strange reason. She reached for the petal, rubbing two fingers over its soft surface, but refusing to pick it up. She looked up at Draco quizically, and he proceeded to explain. "We're just like this rose, Ginny. The two of us. When I picked this rose up, it was loosing its petals. One by one. That petal," he beckoned to the one on the floor, "is the last one this one will ever loose. Why? Because the rose gave something up. It gave its life up for the price of its petals. It'll stay like this for the rest of eternity."

"How...?" Ginny asked, her brows furrowed.

"Ginny..." Draco seemed to be struggling, "I know this is hard to understand, but I'm sure you know it on some level. I-" he choked slightly, "Can't explain any better than that."

Though she didn't understand what Draco meant by using the rose as an example, her horror multiplied. "Draco..." But her lips were sealed by Draco's own lips, pressed securely over her own. He set the rose aside, carressing the side of her face tenderly. A tango of hot tongues ensued, a duel for dominance, and eventually, Ginny helped Draco to discard his shirt, letting her hands roam over his chest, just as his were busy beneath her shirt. Soon enough, all garments were strewn over the floor, and hands roamed in much more delicate places than chests. That night in the Astronomy, the broken rose was witness to love, passion and sweat.

Both Ginny and Draco savored the taste of eachother's skin, the feel of being so close to another person, especially one you feel so strongly about. They even memorized the initial discomfort of the whole situation. Every moment was filled with wonder and affection beyond the barriers of affection. Neither Ginny, nor Draco would ever forget, or regret those two hours of pleasure and awe.

**Author's Note: Its coming to a finale, people. I'm so excited to see how you guys will react to the ending. It'll be great, I garantee, though the next chapter will be fairly short. It'll take a while. It really will, 'cuz I want to ending to tie everything up, and I want to post the next to chapters together. They are the last two chapters. **

**Review, please...!! I need your opinions...**


	9. Chapter Nine

A Broken Rose

**Author's Note: I'm going to warn you now. If you don't like sad endings, don't read this chapter, or the next. Pretend the story ended last chapter, so you can revel in the happiness of that one, and not have to take on the misery of this one. If you're brave would like to go on...then suite yourself.**

The first thing she was aware of was a cruel laughter, next to the bright sunlight on her face. Then all the memories came back to her, and she smiled at the prospect of doing what she had done the night before. Even so, in her happiness, she could sense something was wrong. Horribly, terribly wrong. Maybe it was the coldness that surrounded her from every angle. The conrete was cold at her back, and Draco's arms around her were _terribly_ cold. She wanted to open her eyes, but somehow, she dreaded seeing what she would find if she did. Instead she shifted, and heard the laughter again. _"Ginny, Ginny, Ginny,"_ a familiar voice said mockingly and then there was more laughter.

"No," she said suddenly, and she knew why Draco's arms were so cold, "What have you done?"

More laughter. _"Its not what I've done. Its what he's done, and what you've done. Open your eyes."_

And she did. And she looked over at Draco, and all she could do was scream. He looked so peaceful, as if he were sleeping. But she knew he was not sleeping. Or maybe, in a way he was. But that didn't make up for the fact that he would never wake up. His face was paler than it had ever been before, his body cold and stiff. His eye lids and lips were tinged blue. Tears began to fall.

"No!" she cried, feeling her heart shatter in her chest in a horror beyond any thing she had ever felt before. "No! Draco, wake up, please! Don't leave me alone, please, I'm begging you!" She sat up, burying her head in his chest, and shaking him violently. "No....! This can't...be..." But it was. Draco was dead. Tom had killed him.

_"He went willingly,"_ Tom said, amused. He reached out for her, but moved back as if he had been stung. The amused look left his dark eyes. _"He was smart, though. He knew that if he left I wouldn't be able to touch you. He also knew that if he just told you he didn't love you, it would break your heart, and he wouldn't want to be alive to see that happen. He couldn't do it! The coward! Instead he killed himself, so that he wouldn't have to see you cry!" _Tom laughed again, causing Ginny to sob even more.

"How can you be so _cold_?" she snarled dangerously, "Why do you want to ruin my life? Why _have_ you ruined my life?" She broke down into even more sobs, and found that she could no longer speak. Not that she wanted to.

_"Becuase you ruined mine,"_ Tom sneered, and then he was gone, leaving Ginny to her miserable life.

"Draco, Draco, Draco," she sobbed, leaning over his life-less body and remembering the night before and how much love she had felt towards him. She brushed a stray strand of silver-blonde hair away from his forehead, letting her tears fall onto his chest, his face, his lips....the ones she had kissed mere hours ago. "Why, Draco? Why couldn't it have been me?

"I love you so much, and now you've...you've _gone_?"

Ginny didn't know what to do, so, instead, she lay her tired body down next to his, pulling one of his arms over her. She wasn't going to leave him. _Ever_.

The last thing she saw before she dotted off to sleep was, clutched in his pale, cold hand, the broken rose from the night before. She smiled, then. A sad smile, full of all the pain Tom had made her endure all these years. She felt all the pain flow away from her like waves reversing back into the ocean. Draco had given his life for hers. So that she could live. Now, she was going to preserve herself for him. He would come back eventually, right? She laid a hand over her stomach remembering the night before. She didn't know how exactly she knew this, but she could feel life within herself. Life within her body, growing and pulsing strongly. The smile twisted into a smirk that so resembled Draco famous one. At least something good and pure would come out of her and Draco's love, even though, nine months later, he would not be there to see it.

She got his philosophy about the rose now. She was the petals...he was the rose...the broken rose...

**Author's Note: For those of you who have made it this far. This chapter didn't take as long as I thought it would, mostly because school is ending for Christmas and the teachers are taking pity on us. Its short, this chapter, I know. But there really wasn't much to write for it. Next chapter's the ending poem. Review this chapter, then review the poem, if you please.**

**No flames, I beg. Don't review this time if you're going to critique. You can flame me every where else, but try not to when I'm just finishing up a story. It ruins me.**

**Review with a cherry on top.**


	10. Chapter Ten

A Broken Rose

a rose thou art, maybe

a broken rose thou shall be

forever more

i'll conquer the world for you

and i'll give my life,

if only for yours

for a rose i am, maybe

but a broken rose i shall be

forever more

a rose thou art, maybe

a broken rose thou shall be

forever more

bloody petals on the floor

my blood on the floor

your tears on my lips

my tears have not fallen

for a rose i am, maybe

but a broken rose i shall be

forever more

_a rose thou art, maybe_

_a broken rose thou shall be_

_forever more_

Fin

**Author's Note: Voila. Review. I know the poem isn't the greatest. I have to work more on my poetry skills.**


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